Human Rights Vetting

The State Department vets foreign security force units prior to providing U.S. assistance based on policy concerns and to comply with two legal provisions named for their original sponsor, Senator Patrick Leahy. They are just two of the many laws that Congress has enacted to promote human rights and to protect the U.S. image abroad by distancing the United States from abusive governments and security forces. The first provision is codified in the Foreign Assistance Act and applies to foreign aid programs and those authorized under the Arms Export Control Act. It prohibits assistance to foreign security force units credibly implicated in gross human rights abuses. The second provision, which applies to security assistance funded through DoD, has appeared in annual defense appropriations acts since 1998. Both provisions have been modified over time, as have the procedures for human rights vetting. Maintaining robust enforcement of the Leahy laws, which serve as the primary safeguard for assuring that the United States is not contributing to human rights violations through its military foreign assistance, is necessary if we are to maintain credibility with local populations, and to ensure that the U.S. is not supporting or assisting human rights violators.